I'd Be Fine On My Own
by Crayola Hearts
Summary: With the S-Class exams coming up, Shadowgear has temporarily been disbanded, leaving cute little Levy to do a job on her own. Concerned for her saftey, though, Master Markov sends Gajeel along.
1. Chapter 1

**_A/N: Another GaLe fanfic. I'm seriously obsessed, but I can't help it; Levy's just too cute :3 ._. I think Gajeel's a little too out of charcter for my taste, but whatever. I'll deal with it. On another note: Please if your review doesn't pertain to the topic of the story, don't post it. I really don't want to read through people arguing over whether a couple is going to happen or not. This is called fanfcition for a reason. /end rant_**

**_Anyway, read and review please 3_**

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She hated being small and weak. It made choosing jobs nearly impossible, especially since Jet and Droy declared Team Shadowgear disbanded for the time being. With the S-Class trials coming up, they turned into workaholics, often fighting over jobs and leaving her on her own. Even if she did find a job she could do, she didn't want to go alone she liked having company – even if it was the grouchy Gajeel Redfox himself.

The idea of having Lily and Gajeel accompany her on her job was not her, but Mira's. After the solid script mage had finally found a job and left, the white haired bartender asked the Dragonslayer and Exceed to accompany her, just incase something happened. It was common knowledge that the Exceed and Mira had other reasons for sending the Dragonslayer besides everyone worrying if the tiny bluenette was going to be alright on her own. Common knowledge to everyone, except for the two involved.

"Why did I have to come on this stupid job?" Gajeel asked for the seventh time that day.

Levy leaned against the train's window, her head resting on her hand as he elbow was propped up on the small table that folded up from the wall. She didn't bring any books with her (shockingly) because she hoped to buy a few in the town they were destined for; she needed the room for the newest additions to her collection. Both she and Lily were growing tired of the man's constant complaints; if she were strong enough, Levy would have knocked him out hours ago. As mean as it was, she wished he had motion sickness like Natsu – he sure would have been quieter.

It wasn't that the petite mage didn't like Gajeel, she was actually quite fond of him, despite their dark past, it was just that Levy had been quite irritable over the past couple days. She suspected that time of month was approaching once more. Why else would she be so easily annoyed? Though Gajeel, at times, could drive even the most calm and patient insane with his constant want to fight. One time he had even angered Mira to the point where she gave him a good knock across the guild. Oh, if only Levy were that strong.

"We get it." Levy finally snapped as he started saying it once more. "You're not happy to be here. Go home if it's really that bothersome."

Both Lily and Gajeel stared at the solid script mage in shock. Levy was rarely known to be nasty with people; she was one of the sweetest members in the guild. Gajeel grumbled something under his breath and leaned back against his seat, looking every where but at the bluenette. She was tapping her fingers impatiently and breathing rather heavily, it finally became obvious to the Dragonslayer that she was annoyed and itching to get this whole thing over with.

Finally, after a few moments of silence, Levy took a deep breath. "Gajeel, I'm sorry I snapped like that. I- I guess I'm just annoyed with the way Jet and Droy have been acting lately."

Gajeel shrugged and grunted in reply, receiving a glare from Lily.

"It's alright, Levy." Lily said reassuringly. "Things do seem hectic around the guild."

Levy laughed slightly. "Yeah. The S-Class exams are coming up and everyone's determined to be chosen this year."

"Do you want to be chosen?" Lily asked, trying to make conversation and lessen the amount of boredom he was suffering; Lily, in the short time he had been in Earthland, had come to truly dislike trains.

"I do, but I'm not that strong. I'm small and weak. Someone like me would never become an S-Class mage. All I have is brains and book smarts. I'm not a fighter." Levy sighed sadly.

"I know this is going to sound really strange, especially since its coming from me but," Gajeel paused as if trying to choose his words carefully, "sometimes strength isn't everything."

Now it was Levy's turn to be shocked. She was speechless.

Gajeel continued. "No matter how much force Natsu and I put on that rune barrier the green haired freak put up when Laxus attacked, it would not budge. You destroyed that barrier without needing it."

Levy sat in silence, her eyes still wide with shock. She couldn't believe he had said something like that. She was beinging to doubt he was the real Gajeel, but she soon realized what he had said was true. He and Natsu could have torn the guild to shreds and they still never would have broken through the barrier. Instead of thanking him for the complement (she was too shocked to find words), she simply nodded and averted her attention out the window. Before she knew it, she had fallen asleep.

XOXOXOX

"Well, Gajeel. That was unexpected." Lily said with an amused smile.

The Dragonslayer shrugged. "She's not as weak as she thinks. It took me a while to realize it, but none of the members of this Guild are."

"Appearance isn't always everything." Lily added, his smile turning into a sly grin. "I mean look at Mirajane. She looks like the sweetest and most innocent of them all and she can send you flying with one hit."

Lily was rewarded with a growl of anger as the Dragonslayer tried to contain himself from hitting anything. Finally, he unclenched his fists and gave Lily his most dangerous glare.

"That was still sweet of you." Lily said finally, knowing that the comment would irk him even more.

Gajeel grunted in reply, shrugging his shoulder in the process. A sudden loud rumbling filled the train car, causing Levy to stir slightly. The iron Dragonslayer began scanning the small confined space for anything he could scarf down; unfortunately there was nothing. He would have to wait until the train stopped, seeing as how he snapped at the old lady that had been pushing around a cartful of food. Now that he thought about it, he wasn't sure why he snapped. All she did was offer them some food and he nearly bit her head off in reply. He didn't feel bad about almost scaring the woman to death, he was just pissed at himself because he scared off his only source of food on the damned train. He cursed himself for his stupidity and cracked his neck a few times.

"The pay is low, the job is fucking stupid, and I'm hungry." Gajeel growled. It looked as though his soft side was locked away behind a cage once more.

He was, much to Lily's dismay, back to complaining. Though Lily could only smile at his sudden display of kindness towards the solid script mage. Ever since he'd thrown himself in front of one of Laxus's attack, the bluenette had stopped cowering in fear of him. Even if Gajeel said it was nothing more than acting on Juvia's request to get along with the guild members, he always teased Levy, but not to be mean. He never spoke to Levy the way he would to Natsu. As far as Lily knew, he had never threatened to kick her ass, or even attempted to hurt her in anyway. If saying wouldn't have gotten him hit, he would have claimed that Gajeel possibly had feelings for the petite mage.

The rumbling filled the Exceed's ears again as the Dragonslayer held his stomach, almost whimpering, or so Lily thought. It didn't last more than a second before the scowl twisted his pierced face once more.

"How much longer are we going to be trapped on this fucking thing? I'm hungry."

Lily shook his head. "If you hadn't scared the old lady, you could have had something to eat by now. As for how long, I'd say another two or so hours."

The Dragonslayer simply shrugged in reply and closed his eyes; the slight rocking of the train mixed with the sudden onset of rain outside was putting him to sleep. Before he knew it, he too was asleep.

XOXOXOX

Gajeel had woken up fifteen minutes before they pulled into the train station; his hungry stomach would let him sleep no longer. He rubbed his eyes slowly and sat up from his slumped position. Looking at the seat beside him, Lily was no where to be seen. He suddenly looked at the seat across from him, the one Levy was lying in. her blue hair was falling around her head in a mess; sticking out form a large chunk of said hair was a round black ear that belonged to none other than Pantherlily.

"Hey, Shrimp. Wake up." Gajeel commanded, lightly nudging the sleeping bluenette with the toe of his boot.

Levy stirred slightly and sat up. She yawned, squeaking slightly at the end of it, and stretched her small limps. It took her a few moments to shake herself of trance she seemed to be in. She looked around for a moment, shocked and slightly scared until realization filtered through her still groggy mind. She was on a train headed for a small island town, though she nearly jumped out of her skin at the sight of Gajeel leaning over her, his usual scowl plastered on his face.

"Where are we?" She finally asked, rubbing her eyes to get the sleep out of them.

The bluenette retied her hair and fixed the skirt of the orange dress she was wearing; while she was sleeping it had bunched up and become wrinkled.

"Almost to the train station." Gajeel replied, cracking his neck. The sound caused Levy to wince slightly.

"Good." She sighed in relief and began rubbing the small of her back. "My back is killing me…and I'm starving."

Lily sat up, suddenly tilting his nose to the roof of the train car. "Something smells wonderful."

"I bet it tastes wonderful too!" Levy squealed happily. Her small legs kicked back and fourth as she bounced excitedly in her seat.

"So what exactly is this job about again?" Gajeel asked with no particular interest.

"Supposedly a group of thieves broke into this huge mansion and we're supposed to track down whatever it was they stole."

"And you planned on doing this alone?" Gajeel asked with a raise of a studded eyebrow.

"I'm not that weak." Levy puffed her cheeks in anger and hit him repeatedly. "I can handle a few thieves."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say, Shrimp." The Dragonslayer waved a hand dismissively.

.The train was coming to a stop now. She was excited, as she was always when she had a job. Though she would never tell them, she didn't always feel safe with Jet and Droy. They were good fighters and good friends, but their fighting abilities were no where near Gajeel's; Levy felt like she had nothing to worry about this time, if there would be anything to worry about. How hard could finding a stolen item and a couple thieves?

"We're staying in the mansion, correct, Levy?" Lily asked as he claimed a spot on Gajeel's shoulder.

"Mira sent you along without telling you anything?" The solid script mage asked in shock.

"She said you'd tell us everything." The Dragonslayer shrugged. He bent down and snagged a rather large piece of scrap metal from the ground and started chewing on it, glad to have food in his nearly empty stomach.

"The owner doesn't want us to stay at the mansion." Levy explained. "She thinks that if the word that she has guests, the thieves won't come back. The goal here is to catch them, even if it means letting something get stolen. Besides, since you're here, Gajeel, if they get inside the house we can go in the next day and you can follow their sent."

Neither one of them were surprised to hear this. Levy was smart; of course she used the variables she was given to come up with a legitimate plan.

"So where are we staying?" Gajeel asked.

"A nearby hotel. The owner of the mansion is paying for the room…"

"Only one room?" The Dragonslayer asked. It wasn't that he minded sleeping in the same room, (he didn't even plan on sleeping) it was the smirk that Lily shot him.

"You had something to do with this, didn't you?" Gajeel growled at the Exceed.

Lily didn't reply, but his smirk grew wider. In fact, it had nothing to do with him, this whole ordeal was organized by Mira and Erza, both of which being helpless romantics. In all reality, it had been Master Markov's idea to send Gajeel with the petite mage as he was worried if the mission turned out to be more than she could handle, but Mira and Erza took matters into their own hands. Lily was just aware of the situation and enjoying it as much as he possibly could.

"No, I have absolutely nothing to do with whatever _this _is." Lily replied with a serious face.

Gajeel snorted and continued forward. The sky above had become dark with thick thunder clouds that threatened to spill their contents at any given moment. Now that he noticed that, he realized the streets that had been full of people when the arrived were nearly empty, even Levy was nowhere to be seen.

Quickly, the Dragonslayer whirled around, just in time to see Levy run into a rather large bookstore. He couldn't help but sigh heavily, getting the bluenette out of there was going to be nearly impossible.


	2. Chapter 2

**_A/N: Chapter 2 :P Read and review please?_**

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Levy sat on the bed, back against a wall and a book resting on her thighs. She had been sitting in the same position for nearly three hours now; needless to say she had become lost in her new book. Deciding it was time to take a break; she marked the page and set the book beside her before climbing off the bed. She quickly regretted it however. As soon as she put her weight on her feet, she fell face first onto the hard wooden flooring, legs and backside tingling – they had fallen asleep on her.

Embarrassed and angered that she couldn't move, Levy puffed her cheeks out and let her chin rest on the floor. She stayed like that for at least five minutes, constantly testing her legs to see if she was able to move them yet, and each time the bluenette was rewarded with the pins-and-needles feeling and the inability to move her leg anymore. Silently she prayed to whatever higher being watched over them that Gajeel would not choose that moment to come bursting through the door. The teasing and humiliation would never end if he did.

The solid script mage was stuck in that position for another five minutes before she was able to (struggling) get back on her feet. She was able to walk, but not with out staggering or limping. It took a few more minutes, but she was finally able to walk right. Just down the street from the hotel was the small little restaurant that the trio had stopped at after Gajeel managed to drag (literally) her from the bookstore. She would be going alone this time, though. Gajeel had gone out for something and he had taken Lily with him.

Humming happily, content that she was nearly finished with the new novel, Levy grabbed her favorite white jacket and started out the door. The temperature had dropped drastically; she was beginning to wish she had thrown on a pair of pants. Holding her jacket closer to her petite body, Levy walked slowly, wondering just where Gajeel could have been. She wasn't worried, just curious. He had to have been gone for at least three hours, or she was just so into the book that if he did come back, she didn't notice. Either way, he'd be back sooner or later, she concluded.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?"

"Where are you going, miss?"

"You shouldn't be out after dark all by your lonesome."

Before she knew it, three drunken bums had surrounded her. They were disgusting looking with yellow and missing teeth, dirty faces, and torn clothes. The strong sent of booze filled the bluenette's nose along with some other horrid odor; it was all she could do to keep from gagging.

"We'll take you home."

"Who knows what kind of freaks are roaming these streets."

"I'm fine on my own." Levy replied, her voice shaking slightly. Bluffing her way out of a situation was not her thing. Truth be told, she was scared, even if she was a mage – she couldn't find the will to use her magic. Levy was too frightened to think. There was something else that was holding her back, the marks that all three of the men bore; they were mages from a dark guild.

"Come on, no need to be so coy."

"Yeah, sweetheart. We only want to help you out."

One of the men grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him. Levy struggled against his grip, but she couldn't escape. It was as the solid script mage suspected; even if they were hammered, they were stronger than they appeared.

"I don't need your help." Levy tried once more to escape, but it was just as fruitless as her first attempt.

"Relax, girlie. We aren't going to hurt you."

XOXOXOX

"Why couldn't he have sent one of the old fucks? They aren't concerned with the exams." Gajeel growled as he stuffed another massive chunk of metal in his mouth.

"Master sent you. Probably because he felt you could protect her better than the others can." Lily said, trying to come up with a reason that might possibly lessen the amount of complaining the Dragonslayer did.

Gajeel growled. "I'm amazed he lets me near her…after what I did when I was with Phantom. I don't blame Jet and Droy for complaining about me being sent. They still hate me."

"Just give them time." Lily said. "Levy seems like the type who's quick to forgive; maybe she has already done so."

"I don't think she ever will." Gajeel mumbled. There was a second part to it, but Lily was unable to hear it. He had his ideas of what he said, but to call him out on it would surely get him punched.

The two of them stayed silent for a few moments, hearing nothing but the sound of the Dragonslayer bolting down hunks after hunks of metal.

"Are you sure it was alright to leave her in the room by herself? It's been almost three hours." Lily said. "Maybe we should head back."

"She'll be fine." Gajeel waved his hand dismissively. "You know how she gets when she's reading. She probably already fell asleep."

The silence resumed once more, before a sudden, familiar scream shattered it.

XOXOXOX

Levy was backed against the wall with no way to escape. Both of her tiny hands were curled into fists as tears stung her eyes. She would strike if she had to, but she prayed that she didn't; who knows what might happen. The more she thought about it, however, the more she was beginning to like the idea.

_It's funny how fear warps your mind. _She thought for a second, fighting herself to keep her hands at her side.

She never felt so weak and useless. Thinking she didn't need it, Levy had left her magic pen in the hotel room. Her only weapon wasn't with her and if she tried to escape they might kill her. Again she cursed herself for being the way she was.

_Brains won't get me out of this one. _She grumbled, remembering what Gajeel had said on the train. She was in one of those situations were the only reasonable solution was to fight; there was no way in hell she was going to go with them – pretending or not. Taking a second to look around, she examined the area, hoping for a small chance of escape. She saw none. She would have to strike one of them and hope she was fast enough to get though in the second of confusion, that is if she even landed the hit.

Just as Levy drew her arm back, face set with a look of determination, a huge shadow engulfed the four of them. One of the drunken men was hulled off his feet and held in the air, at least three inches off the ground. The solid script mage didn't need to hear his voice to know exactly who it was.

"Just what the fuck do you think you're doing?" Gajeel growled.

It happened so fast that Levy barely knew what was going on. The other two bums took off, no doubt scared of the Dragonslayer who had just appeared. The third one was thrown through the air, landing some hundred feet away. When he turned to her, Levy's face was flushed with embarrassment. She cast her eyes down and fumbled with the hem of her dress; she was half expecting Gajeel to start yelling at her for leaving the hotel. Instead he grabbed her wrist and threw her over his shoulder, earning a little shriek from her.

"You're a pain in the ass, you know that."

Levy puffed out her cheeks again and started squirming in his grip. "Put me down!"

"So you can run off again? No way, Shrimp." Gajeel replied smirking. He was obviously enjoying this, especially when he heard the sound of a raspberry being blown.

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**_A/N: Gajeel to the rescue xP_**


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